One Killed, Suspect In Custody In Purdue University Shooting

Police declared the campus of Purdue University safe Tuesday afternoon, hours after a shooting in a school building alarmed students and sparked a partial evacuation order. One person died in the violence; another has been taken into police custody.

Authorities have not released the names of those involved in the shooting at Purdue’s Electrical Engineering Building, which reportedly took place around noon.

Here are more details from Indiana’s WTHR TV News, following a news conference this afternoon by police:

“Police say the suspect was taken into custody outside the Electrical Engineering building where the shooting occurred. Police believe the suspect went into the classroom, shot the victim and then left the building.

“Police say the suspect has not been cooperative.”

The Purdue Exponent has this account from Erica Ambrose, a student who was attending a class in the same building when the shooting occurred:

“We heard shouting downstairs and it sounded like people were running through the hallways, just yelling at each other.”

“We heard the sirens and we looked out the window to see they had somebody in handcuffs,” said Ambrose. “Then, the fire alarms went on to evacuate, so we came outside. When we got out, that’s when we got the text to avoid the area.”

“We didn’t actually hear the gunshot. We just heard yelling.”

The university has cancelled its classes through Wednesday and is making counselors available to students, according to WTHR.

The school’s president, Mitch Daniels, was traveling Tuesday, reports the Exponent. In a statement released this afternoon, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence called the incident “a tragedy,” adding, “our heartfelt condolences go out to the family of the victim and to everyone in the Purdue community.”

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